Chief Judge Rader with Renmin U Prof Liu Chuntian.
The Federal Circuit Bar has just posted the formal announcement of its Bench and Bar program with the China Law Society, which will be hosted at Renmin University May 28-30, with the the support of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Supreme People’s Court of China, the US Patent and Trademark Office and the State Intellectual Property Office, amongst others. Continue reading
After months of planning and preparation, Fordham’s first China focused IP Conference is only two short days away! Registration has been climbing in the last few days, and it is still open.
With the range of issues covered and many notable featured speakers from the U.S. and Chinese government and judiciary, academia and practitioners, the program promises to be exciting. As April 11th approaches, the speaker biographies and their papers have been posted online as well.
We look forward to learning about these issues from the distinguished panel and their varied perspectives.
“Case Filing” In China’s Courts and Their Impact on IP Cases
In my experience over the past decade and talking to local IP courts in China, the IPR judges have for the most part been very forthcoming, knowledgeable and engaging. However, their colleagues in the Case Filing Division (立案庭) (“CFD”) have operated in a much more opaque way, typically not willing to meet at all, despite their playing a critical role in certain WTO / TRIPS obligations of China, such as granting/denying preliminary injunctions, preliminary evidence or asset preservation measures (“provisional measures”)(TRIPS Art. 50). The CFD of a court is more than a court clerk or docketing officer, the CFD actually operates to accept or deny cases, typically without handing down written decisions of any kind. Continue reading
The cloud of mystery surrounding Bo Xilai and his former deputy, police chief Wang Lijun continues to loom over the Chinese and western press, with many unresolved questions concerning the circumstances of Wang’s appearance before the US consulate, and the current circumstances of Bo himself. Not many would have expected any discussion of intellectual property to enter the picture. However, Bo himself did have some engagement on IP issues. He was known during his time as Minister of Commerce for taking a strong negotiating position against US pressure on IP matters. In addition, his agency did serve as a point of contact and organizing ministry for a national IPR campaign. When I served in the US Embassy, I had lunch with Bo once, during an Ambassador’s IPR Roundtable, where he showed very little interest in the issue. His speech is briefly described in a Wikileaks cable. Continue reading
According to a Joint Statement issued by SIPO and DPMA, the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) experimental zone was set up on Jan. 23, 2012. This program, unlike the PPH between SIPO and USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office), only includes general PPH, but not the Patent Cooperation Treaty PPH. Under this initiative, applicants can file their PPH applications to either SIPO or DPMA.
Applicants who want to file the PPH application to SIPO can visit here for further information (Chinese).
Applicants who want to file the PPH application to DPMA can find further information here (English).
This program will continue for two years and will be due on Jan.22, 2014.
Additionally, SIPO set up the PPH experimental zone with the USPTO on Dec. 1, 2011, which will only continue for one year.
